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RFPD gears up for extra seat-belt enforcement

The River Falls Police Department will join hundreds of law enforcement agencies throughout Wisconsin for the annual Click It or Ticket safety belt enforcement mobilization from May 20 to June 2.

"Our officers will be on the lookout day and night for unbuckled motorists. If you're not wearing a safety belt, we will stop your vehicle and you will get a ticket," said Police Sgt. Matthew Kennett. "During the Click It or Ticket mobilization and throughout the year, we stringently enforce Wisconsin's mandatory safety belt law to motivate motorists to buckle up every time they drive or ride in a vehicle.

"Tragically, too many people are needlessly injured or killed because they believed a crash would never happen to them so they did not buckle up."

In Wisconsin, about one out of five motorists does not buckle up, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

More than half of the drivers and passengers killed in Wisconsin traffic crashes in 2011 were not wearing safety belts. Last year, there were more than 100,000 convictions for failure to fasten a seat belt.

"Consistent safety belt use is the most effective protection against being ejected from a vehicle during a crash or thrown around violently inside it and possibly hitting another person in the vehicle with massive force," Kennett said. "Our officers take safety belt enforcement seriously in an effort to reach the ultimate goal of zero preventable traffic deaths in Wisconsin."